A former Malaysian national footballer was sentenced serve time in jail for his involvement in match-fixing, bribing a football referee with up to RM15,000 ($5,600) to ensure Singapore's LionsXII team beat Sarawak FA in the Malaysian Super League in 2012.
40-year-old former professional footballer Thanasegar S. Sinnaiah was jailed for two years, The New Paper reports.
His alleged Singaporean accomplice — 52-year-old Selvarajan Letchuman — has been arrested and his case is still pending. The referee himself — 50-year-old Shokri Nor — is still on the run.
The three had met ahead of the match between LionsXIII and Sarawak FA to make the arrangements for match-fixing, where Selvarajan told Shokri that the Singapore team had to win by at least three goals, encouraging the referee to issue yellow and red cards to the Sarawak players.
With the plans confirmed, Selvarajan then placed six bets ad two Singapore Pools outlets — all of which would have won the conspirators a huge sum of money.
The trio however were arrested before kickoff, with the game at Jalan Besar Stadium ending in a 3-0 win for LionsXII.
Thanasegar and Shokri managed to flee Singapore while out on bail. The former football player was on the run for two years before being nabbed in Malaysia in August last year.
In court, he pleaded guilty to abetting a conspiracy to fix the Malaysian Super League match, two charges of abetting a conspiracy to cheat Singapore Pools by betting on a fixed match and one county of failing to present his passport when leaving Singapore.
Photo: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos via Flickr
A former Malaysian national footballer was sentenced serve time in jail for his involvement in match-fixing, bribing a football referee with up to RM15,000 ($5,600) to ensure Singapore's LionsXII team beat Sarawak FA in the Malaysian Super League in 2012.
40-year-old former professional footballer Thanasegar S. Sinnaiah was jailed for two years, The New Paper reports.
His alleged Singaporean accomplice — 52-year-old Selvarajan Letchuman — has been arrested and his case is still pending. The referee himself — 50-year-old Shokri Nor — is still on the run.
The three had met ahead of the match between LionsXIII and Sarawak FA to make the arrangements for match-fixing, where Selvarajan told Shokri that the Singapore team had to win by at least three goals, encouraging the referee to issue yellow and red cards to the Sarawak players.
With the plans confirmed, Selvarajan then placed six bets ad two Singapore Pools outlets — all of which would have won the conspirators a huge sum of money.
The trio however were arrested before kickoff, with the game at Jalan Besar Stadium ending in a 3-0 win for LionsXII.
Thanasegar and Shokri managed to flee Singapore while out on bail. The former football player was on the run for two years before being nabbed in Malaysia in August last year.
In court, he pleaded guilty to abetting a conspiracy to fix the Malaysian Super League match, two charges of abetting a conspiracy to cheat Singapore Pools by betting on a fixed match and one county of failing to present his passport when leaving Singapore.
Photo: Jnzl's Public Domain Photos via Flickr